gelindevsGemeindeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gelinde is a adjective, Gemeinde is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gelinde” is an adjective and “Gemeinde” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33,073
“gelinde” frequency rank
#792
“Gemeinde” frequency rank
33865
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gelinde Gemeinde
Definition von geringer Stärke gesellschaftliches Gebilde: Gemeinschaft mit höherem Organisationsgrad

Where the eye mixes gelinde and Gemeinde

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gelinde runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against Gemeinde's 8 (CVCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
gelinde
8 ch
Gemeinde

Why the eye confuses gelinde with Gemeinde

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gelinde is [ɡəˈlɪndə] while Gemeinde is [ɡəˈmaɪ̯ndə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33865, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gelinde is recorded at frequency rank #33,073, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈlɪndə]. Gemeinde is at rank #792, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈmaɪ̯ndə].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 33865, this pair ranks #1,676,320 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gelinde vs Gemeinde

Shared letters: degin. Private to "gelinde": l. Private to "Gemeinde": m.

"gelinde" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "Gemeinde" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gelinde ← eglinde · geilnde · gelidne · gelindde · gelined · gelinnde · gellinde · gelnide
  • Gemeinde ← egmeinde · geeminde · gemeidne · gemeindde · gemeined · gemeinnde · gemenide · gemiende

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gelinde" for "Gemeinde" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gelinde" is an adjective and "Gemeinde" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "gelinde" vs "Gemeinde" - which ranks higher?
"Gemeinde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #792 in our German list, against #33,073 for "gelinde". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "gelinde" and "Gemeinde" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gelinde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gemeinde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,676,320 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gelinde" and "Gemeinde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gelinde vs Gerlinde". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,676,320 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list